Actual Neon Tetra Temperature

Hello everyone!

I've had this Neon Tetra tank established for about a month now - originally I was going away so I only had 3 tetras as I wanted the tank to cycle with fish in it and had someone to look after them while I was gone.


I have since added 2 more tetras (brought 3 home but 1 died) and am planning on adding a few more, 2 red cherry shrimp, and 2 nerite snails.

Everything has been good so far, with the exception of my 2 newest neons being pale - but they're schooling, eating, even chasing the more colorful neons around the tank just as much as they get chased, so I'm not worried about it that much.

Then I come on here and see that neons are supposed to be at a temperature much lower than what I have... and I'm really concerned that their paleness may be caused by the wrong temperature?

I have my tank at 78 because my heater only has one setting, and that should be within the recommended range, but I've seen conflicting evidence even on this website.

The only thing I can do is take the heater out - but I feel like that would be infinitely worse than leaving it in? I legitimately don't know where to get a heater that will even "heat" a tank to a lower temperature... do neons even need a heater?

The tank originally housed a betta, and that's why I had the heater.

Would it be better to just eliminate it? If I did, would the snails/shrimp be okay?

 

Temperature, ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates all play a possible role in "paleness"

I wouldnt add anything else in there until you test your water and get that squared away to prevent any casualties.

And don't remove the heater they need 70-81 degree F water temp

 

78 is at the higher end of their range but it's not terrible. I would trust Seriously Fish on this:

 

The fact that you have less than a school of tetra could also stress the fish out,

 

I have 10 neon tetras plus other tetras, and they are fine at that temperature. The temperature fluctuates a bit in the 77 range, but I also had them when I had a heater like yours without any trouble. One thing I can tell you when comparing new fish to fish already in your tank is that fish tend to color up when they are doing well. When I upgraded from a 3 to a 20g, my fish all brightened up, and the new ones I added also colored up after a few weeks.

As Grungepony says, though, there could be many things at play here. Can you provide the stats requested above?

 

78 is at the higher end of their range but it's not terrible. I would trust Seriously Fish on this:

Thank you for the link! I'll be sure to check all this info out. This is my first time trying to keep a "real" tank and so I'm fretting over every little thing. I'm just glad I'm not truly on the borderline.

Temperature, ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates all play a possible role in "paleness"

This question was not about the paleness of the fish. I was asking if the temperature may be too high and be playing a role in the paleness, not if it was the cause. That's not the question here.

 

Thank you for the link! I'll be sure to check all this info out. This is my first time trying to keep a "real" tank and so I'm fretting over every little thing. I'm just glad I'm not truly on the borderline.



This question was not about the paleness of the fish. I was asking if the temperature may be too high and be playing a role in the paleness, not if it was the cause. That's not the question here.

Right, but temperature isn't the only factor lol

 

Neons temp range is untrustworthy. The reason you see a temp listed above 78 is because they are from a temperate region. It's only that warm in one season. The rest of the seasons is cooler. They should be kept permanently at 75 or less, if kept permanently higher they will have shorter lifespans.

 

Where are you located and more importantly , what temperature do you keep your house at? Air temperature and water temperature will vary by a few degrees, with (in my experience ) the tank being a few degrees warmer due to the lighting. I don't use heaters in any of my temperate tanks, the thermostat is set to 68F and my average wintertime tank temperature is 73F.

The only tanks I do heat are the ones that require tropical temperatures of 78 to 80F.

 

Agree with Anders! Also what size aquarium and what is your stocking? Neons are schooling fish thus they need to be in a group of at least 6! It also seems like you don't know much about cycling, which we can help you with! 3 neons have very little bio-load and might not produce enough ammonia for the BB

 

Agree with Anders! Also what size aquarium and what is your stocking? Neons are schooling fish thus they need to be in a group of at least 6! It also seems like you don't know much about cycling, which we can help you with! 3 neons have very little bio-load and might not produce enough ammonia for the BB

Ah, I should have mentioned in my post that I'm trying to get my school up to 7. I had 3, added 3, one died (that's what I get for trusting the pet store employees to net fish...), so I'm now at 5. I'm planning on adding 3 more to the tank because I know they need that schooling.

My tank is a 10 gallon but I use a 20 gallon filter - at least, according tomy tank is a ok!

Currently my tank sits at 5 (soon to be 8) neons, 2 nerite snails, and 2 cherry shrimp (though I'd like to add a lot more shrimp, too).

Where are you located and more importantly , what temperature do you keep your house at? Air temperature and water temperature will vary by a few degrees, with (in my experience ) the tank being a few degrees warmer due to the lighting. I don't use heaters in any of my temperate tanks, the thermostat is set to 68F and my average wintertime tank temperature is 73F.

The only tanks I do heat are the ones that require tropical temperatures of 78 to 80F.

I'm not sure not having a heater at all would work for me... I live in upstate New York and it gets terribly cold here sometimes. My house temperature fluctuates from under 70 to almost 80 - I live with my grandmother who's sick, so she changes the temperature a lot, but it's usually very hot... I keep the heater off in my room, though.

Should I maybe get an aquarium thermometer and stick it in there and just take the heater out and observe?

 

A 20 gallon tank is much better for neons due to their activity level and need to be in numbers but don't stress it. 10 gallons isn't terrible.

How far under 70 does the temperature drop? If it were me I would just wrap the tank in insulation to reduce the speed of the fluctuations and remove the heater. Or get one that is adjustable and will only kick in if the temperature drops below safe levels.

 

Not sure why even Seriously Fish has the temp range wrong. Where Neons come from, the air can get quite warm, but the water NEVER gets 28C(82F). The proper range is more like 21-24C, or 70-76F. They breed at 23C, or 74F.

I would remove the heater and put a thermometer in to monitor the tank temperature for a while. I think you'll find that the temperature in the tank doesn't fluctuate as much as external air temperatures.

 

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• Redshark1
• Apr 22, 2016
• 1

My Neons are spawning this morning at 72F (I have my heater set to this value).

I understand that in the wild their streams are often well shaded by vegetation so the temperature is usually low.

My Neons appeared to behave normally at 68F (the temp it sank to before I added my heater).

When the temp was higher in summer 78F there appeared to be more aggression between the males and some females were also chased vigorously.

Unfortunately in the September heat wave my temperature reached 86F so I will have to watch that next summer and take steps to control it.

I'd recommend buying them in winter for the reason that temperature is easier to control and they can be fragile when newly purchased. I bought some poor quality ones in summer and lost some to what I believe may have been Columnaris but now they are stable and I haven't lost any for a couple of months. They are stunning!